The organ in Ivan Larrea Bellod’s workshop for his special craft as an organ builder, living in Novelda near Alicante, Spain.
Ivan Larrea specializes in building organs of stone; this one is a masterpiece as it allows to play with nuances of wind stream, with nuances concerning the intonation.
The organ is made of the stone of the archeological site KL Plaszow, established in October 1942 as a concentration camp for Jews, but also for Poles and other groups. The place was once home to two Jewish cemeteries. As buildings are not allowed on former Jewish cemeteries, a Sound Monument is planned for a new Museum at this site.
„In 2016, Kraków Museum started its work on commemorating the former Nazi German Plaszów labour and concentration camp.“ The Museum’s task was, to „identify the camp’s topography“, to make an inventory of the ruins and relicts of buildings and infrastructure“, to „broaden the knowledge regarding the prisoners‘ lives and their material remains“. (Kamil Karski, KL Plaszow. Archaeological Guide, 3)
The stone organ is going to be installed outdoors , exposed to the wind, the snow, the rain, the heat. Michal Libera was the curator of this beautiful project.
The composition onwards – backwards, composed in 2023/24, will be part of the Sound Monument. It includes fragments of Rachel Knobler’s Requiem and of Knobler’s Hiob Niggun. Mostly organ wind streams and airy sounds will accompagny the visitor’s walk around the space.
Listen to an excerpt of onwards – backwards:
